British Cycling releases dates for 2014 national road series

The 2013 domestic road season was a landmark one for the sport of cycling in the UK with the sport reaching ever wider audiences through the growth of events like the British Cycling Road Race Championships, witnessed by over 35,000 spectators in Glasgow, and new events welcomed to the calendar in Ipswich, Leicester and further afield.

Building on that success British Cycling today announced the dates of its national road series events for 2014 and with it, substantial change and growth in the structure of the national calendar.

The biggest changes to the series for 2014 come with the introduction of the British Cycling Elite Road Series which replaces the Premier Calendar.

The new season long ranking for teams and individuals is made up of two blocks of racing to be known as the Spring Cup and the Grand Prix Series. A total of nine races make up the two series for 2014

For 2014 the Elite Circuit Series will remain unchanged in format, a total of six events will form the series next season. The series will take place during July and will culminate with the series finale in Wales on 30th July.

Following the rapid growth of domestic racing in recent years and the burgeoning domestic elite racing scene, British Cycling also announce the introduction of a new tier of teams to sit below UCI Continental.

The new category of British Cycling Elite National Team will reward teams who meet a set of professional standards with a set number of benefits and guarantees inclusion into the Elite Road Series events. Along with UCI teams, the new Elite National Teams will be included in both individual and team overall rankings across the British Cycling Elite Road Series.

The existing club team structure will still exist in its current format and National Series events will continue to be open to club teams and individual riders, although inclusion within the overall rankings for those series respectively will only be open to teams who have affiliated to the series for the full season.